the ship that sails itself
by actualcanary
Summary: From the tumblr #aosotp ship meme: Fitzsimmons version / CH1: They're in The Hunger Games. What will happen? 1) Be out to kill each other? 2) One will sacrifice themself to save the other? 3) Both go for the poisoned berries?


_Ship Meme: They're in The Hunger Games. What will happen? 1) Be out to kill each other? 2) One will sacrifice themself to save the other? 3) Both go for the poisoned berries?_

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She dips her battered hands into the cool ocean, emitting a shaky sigh. Her warm honey eyes are wide and alert, ears searching for any semblance of noise, her proverbial tail ramrod straight and still. The silent ocean breeze and sea foam lapping at the shore have her trembling with anxiety; the distant sounds of the lightning storm make the hairs on the back of her neck strain in fear. She cups her hands in the water and washes the aftermath of the blood rain off of her face. She unzips herself from the useless jumpsuit, sliding into the water bare skinned. Her senses are on high alert, eyes never straying from the unconscious body that lays on the sand less than ten feet away from her.

_She and Leo had been walking through the forest, scavenging for anything that looked edible. They'd been separated from Melinda earlier on, or more like she had stormed off grumbling about how "'Nuts and Volts' could wander on their own for a while," and that, "the fucking 'Girl on Fire' would have to wait, because she was going to get food unlike these dolts."_

_She and Leo had watched her walk off with weary eyes. On one hand, they were glad to be rid of the constant commentary she'd had going on about how pathetic they were. But on the other hand, she was incredibly useful when it came to choosing a safe spot for camp, and deciding what could be eaten and what was "poisonous shit put here to kill dolts like you." _

_The two of them had continued scavenging, when there was a sudden crack in the sky, and the next thing she and Leo knew, there was red rain falling down on them. And it wasn't even red rain, for it was thick and dark and neither of them could see. Leo stumbled into the force field, eyes full of and blinded by the heavy blood. The blast had startled Jemma, for she was blinking through blood and failing to see clearly. With foggy vision, she'd ran to an unconscious Leo as fast as she could, legs aching and body feeling pulled down by the bloody rain. Scooping him over her shoulder, he'd always been so light, she ran as fast as she could through the forest and away from the rain, tripping over roots and falling countless times, she could feel her jumpsuit tear here and there, feel the lumps of pain where bruises would blossom, the burns where slivers of skin had been torn away. _

_But she hadn't stopped running._

Now she sees the blood swirling away from her in the water, rubbing her arms ferociously, her entire body feeling cleaner and less like she'd started rolling in the remnants of a crime scene. She drags her jumpsuit into the ocean too, rubbing it together to clean it as well as it can be cleaned. She lays it back on the sand, and unable to properly preserve her modesty, and not really caring, she dives in the water one last time, making sure she's blood-free from head to toe, and then walks back onto the sandy shore. She grabs her long hair and twists it to rid of the excess seawater, feeling oddly fresh. As her jumpsuit dries, she's forced to walk around bare, so she softly pads over to Leo, who's still unconscious, and slides her hand across his bloody forehead. She decides that he needs to be cleaned off too, so she drags him to the edge of the water. She slips back in, and before she unwillingly drags him in with her and has to hold him up along with herself, she sees if she can wake him.

"Leo? Do you hear me?"

He moans a little, so she thinks maybe he'll be able to just wake up enough for her to help him wash off.

"Leo? Can you wake up yet?"

"…Jemma?"

He's still incredibly weak, his eyes are barely open, but from what she can see, he's looking at her. She decides that's enough for her, so she drags him by the legs into the water. His eyes open properly thanks to his head falling under the water, and he chokes a little bit on the seawater. Jemma quickly hefts him up, so he's pressed against her and his head is floating above water. She blushes, because she's buck naked and she's holding her best friend tightly against her. She sees that he's also flustered, but since he can't actually move his limbs at the moment, she just watches his cheeks flame as she starts to rub the blood off of his back with her arms.

"Sorry, hm, you have to, uh, do this Jemma."

His voice is hoarse and he whispers it right into her ear and she can't help but shiver. She doesn't voice back an answer, so she just shrugs, knowing he'll feel it, and transfers his body so she can hold him with one arm, and wash the crusted blood off his face and out of his curls. She watches him sigh as she one-handedly massages the blood from his scalp, smiles as she feels him melt a bit in her arms.

She finishes with his head, working her way down his face until she's rubbing blood off his strong neck, watching him watch her. She smiles a tiny bit, and he stares at her in a way she doesn't understand. She zips the front of his jumpsuit down a bit to rub some blood off his chest, and his eyes slip closed, and he groans. She watches his face, entranced, and rubs further down with her free arm, sees the pain and something else on his face. She goes as far as she'll allow herself, then zips the front back up, and squeezes him against her tighter, gripping his sides in a hug. She let's out a sigh, resting her head against his chest, his head dropping on top of hers even if he can't wrap his arms around her just yet. She feels relieved, but more anxious than ever.

"I have to get you out of the water, see if you can start moving on your own again. But, um, I'd appreciate if you closed your eyes, Fitz. And no peeking!"

She grins at his annoyed glare, but smiles softly when he shuts his eyes completely closed. She swims closer to shore, dragging him out of the water along with herself. She lays him on the sand, then tiptoes over to her jumpsuit that has already dried. Slipping on the torn and fairly useless thing, she tiptoes back over to Leo, dragging her thumb across his cheek so he'll open his eyes. When he does, she grimaces, because the pain is so much more obvious on his face now. She kneels next to him, knees melting in the sand. He's cleaner, but probably not as much as she is, and he's still not able to move. She figures time will bring back his limbs, so she grabs him and settles him between her legs, hands rubbing his arms and tangling in his hair. She and him watch the sun and reminisce quietly, stories of their families and gadgets at home causing an ache in both of their hearts.

He doesn't get feeling back until what feels like hours. She's rubbing his arm and he suddenly grabs her hand, holding it in his, adjusting and sitting up. He turns around to face her. Her with the shocked expression on her face that melts into a sad smile when he kisses her on the corner of her mouth. His eyes are pained and yet say thank you at the same time. He stands up, and stretches as she stares out across the water, feeling so incredibly empty inside.

"Close your eyes, Jem. I'm going to wash this pathetic jumpsuit and myself fully."

He says it quietly, watching her sit quietly. She shuts her eyes and she listens to him unzip the suit, hears him dip it in the water, washing it, then laying it on the shore. She hears the quiet splash of him sliding into the ocean water, the paddling of his arms as he moves a bit further from the shore. Her heart hurts, but she listens to his sighs of relief when he's fully cleaned himself. She starts to quietly cry when she hears him paddling off further, stretching his unused muscles.

Opening her eyes, she sees him staring back at her from the water, and he looks incredibly sad as well. He's her best friend, he nearly died. And she knows they're both going to die in this arena, playing this sick game created by a horrific man that smells of white roses. Leo paddles closer to shore, eyes looking past her, and he looks suspicious. She looks behind her, and sees what he's staring at. Though they've traveled quite a bit away from the forest, she can see the leaves rustling in a way that can only mean someone's coming through. Jemma panics, and stands, sees Leo try to follow her, but she gestures for him to duck under the water.

She knows she can't risk to lose him again.

She approaches the forest, hiding herself as much as she can, and she doesn't hear Leo get out the water, quickly sliding into his jumpsuit. She scans the ground for anything that could remotely pass for a makeshift weapon, and comes up short. The rustling leaves are shaking more, and it seems like whoever is coming out of the forest, is coming at a fast pace. Jemma's right at the forest's edge now, and she hides, watching the rustling leaves and hears before she sees the District 11 tribute come roaring through the forest. He's full of rage, his left arm looks to have been bitten off, and he's roaring in obvious pain. Jemma watches him from her hiding spot, hopes that Leo is okay in the water. The tribute, she thinks his name is Mike, has stopped in the sand on his knees, and he's clawing at his chest and he won't stop roaring in pain and anger. Jemma is concerned, but she knows if she gets too close, he'll see her. But she can't just hide in the forest's edge the whole night, she thinks, as she watches the sun slip away into darkness faster than it would in the real world.

Mike is bleeding heavily, and he's stopped scratching at his chest, but he's fallen back and is bleeding out onto the sand. Jemma decides she can find her way back to shore and check on Leo, who's probably very wrinkly, but safe. She let's out a shaky breath, and starts to get up, when she hears a shout.

"Jemma! Don't!"

It's Leo. He's running towards her from the opposite side of the forest edge from where she is. His eyes are wide and bright and he looks incredibly scared and worried, and she doesn't know why. She stops moving, and she hears the creatures screeching and screaming before she can even get to Leo. She looks up and there they are, the muttations, leaping down to attack her. She startles and starts to run away from the forest, but one of the muttations lands on her back, knocking her flat onto the sand. She tries to get up, starts screaming. She hears Leo next to her getting launched at as well, but trying to knock the muttation off of her back with a branch he grabbed from the forest. The muttation screeches, and jumps off her to attack Fitz, and Jemma gets up as fast as she can, trying to grab the thing off Leo. She and Leo make a valiant effort to run and simultaneously attack the muttations, but they both crash land next to the nearly-dead District 11 tribute, Mike. Jemma's ear crashes against where he'd been clawing at his chest earlier on. Leo's still fighting but she screams for him to just stop.

Where Mike's heartbeat should be, she can only hear one thing before they've all exploded into nothing on the beach.

_Tick tock._

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**Author's note:  
**I haven't written in awhile, and this was fun. The ship meme is from tumblr, and I might write more for it and post it as chapters, so I'll put the link on my profile.


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